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Sometimes languages have different ways of expressing ideas. In English we only have one , go-to verb to talk about something existing – to be. However in spanish , there are two ways to say “to be” – ser and estar.

A quick note on infinitive verbs – ser and estar are examples of infinitive verbs. Infinitive verbs in english start with “to” followed by a doing action -for example to swim , to chat , to listen , to write , to play , to flirt , ect. In spanish you will notice an infinitive verb when a word ends in -ar , -er , -ir – like ser , estar , vivir , ect. I like to think of infinitive verbs as verbs in their most pure and neutral form because they don’t show who is doing the action , it merely just labels the action.

SER

Ser is used to describe defining personal characteristics. An oversimplified way of looking at ser is just using it to describe permanent traits. Yes , it is helpful for a lot of cases to use ser for describing permanent things but may be confusing later on. So try and remember that ser is used to describe personal characteristics like identity , job , nationality , physical , personality traits and time. Useful acroynm for remembering how to use ser is DOCTOR.

D-Description

O-occupation

C-characteristics

T-time

O-origin

R-relationships

ESTAR

Estar is used for talking about temporary emotional states , actions (used in -ing form) , location , position and condition. Acroynm used for estar is PLACE

P-position

L-location

A-actions happening

C-conditions

E-emotional state

CONJUGATION

To use estar and ser in the present, they must be conjugated. Conjugation is changing a verb depending on person (I , you , she , he ,it , we , they) , number (plural or singular), tense (present , past , future). English has very simple and regular conjugation like I talk , you talk , she talks , he talks , we talk , they talk. Notice how I’m just applying pronouns and the word talk (except an -s is added at she and he talks). For the word to be – I am , you are , she is , he is , we are , they are. This is more irregular conjugation – where “I am ” and “she/he is” are exceptions. In spanish you will find that if the pronoun is different the way the verb is conjugated will be different as well. To conjugate a verb in spanish , you must remove the -ar , -er , -ir in an inifinitve verb in this case , let’s use estar. Remove -ar suffix in Estar and we get the root -Est. Apply these endings to use Estar in the present tense. Note : both ser and estar are irregular verbs in the present tense.

ESTAR CONJUGATION

Yo Estoy – I am

Tu Estas – You are

El /Ella /Usted Esta – He / She / You (formal) are

Nosotros/as Estamos – We (males / mixed gender-nosotros , female group- nosotras) are

Ellos/Ellas/ustedes Estan -They (m.), They (f.) , You’all (formal) are

SER CONJUGATION

Yo soy – I am

Tu eres – you are

El/Ella/Usted es – he , she , you (formal) are

Nosotros/as somos – we (m. and mixed -nosotros , f. nosotras) are

Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes son (they m. , they f. , you’all formal) are

Pronouns

In spanish you can omit the pronouns (yo , tu , el , ella , usted , nosotros , nosotras , ellos , ellas , ustedes) when you are using verb conjugations. You can remove pronouns because the root stem tells us the verb and the verb suffix tells us who is doing the action. For example ,let’s look at the word estamos , the root stem “est” tells us it derives from estar and the suffix -amos attaches we to the verb to be thus giving us “we are”. Pronouns can still be used to highlight whom is doing an action or to distinguish from el/ ella/ usted. However using pronouns repetetively is a common beginner mistake.Most spanish speakers omit pronouns , so it’s best practice to start omitting them as well.

Another quick grammar note: Spanish has gendered nouns and adjectives. A quick rule for now is that masculine words end in -o and feminine words end in -a. Of course , there are exceptions but that will be discussed later.

Using the same word but appling the two different “”to be” in spanish gives us completely different sentences.

Eres lista – means I’m smart Estas lista – means I’m ready

Soy feliz -I’m a happy person Estoy feliz- I’m happy (right now)

Es rico – He’s rich Esta rico – It’s yummy / tasty / delicious

Somos Abburido – We are boring Estamos Abburido- we are bored

Son malos – They are evil/bad Estan malos – they are ill

Eres libre -you are a free ( person) estas libre – you are available

Summary

There are 2 ways to say “to be” in spanish ; ser and estar.

Infinitive verbs = end in -ar , -er , -ir

Ser = defining personal characteristics , DOCTOR

Estar = emotional states , location , PLACE

Memorise estar and ser conjugations

Pronouns can be ommited

Masc = ends in -o

Fem = ends in -a